Valve grinding machines



Aug. 21, 1962 v. E. ANDERSON VALVE GRINDING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1959 INVENTOR. l Y/w/v ANDERSON g- 1962 v. E. ANDERSON 3,049,838

VALVE GRINDING MACHINES Filed May 4, 1959 4Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. l YAw/v f. A/VDf/BSO/V Arrys.

Aug. 21, 1962 v. E. ANDERSON VALVE GRINDING MACHINES Filed May 4, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Vmon Z. Awpmso/v BY g Aug. 21, 1962 v. E. ANDERSON 3,049,838

VALVE GRINDING MACHINES Filed May 4, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 QQI'II'II/IIIIIIIIII uwagnnnnumw L INVENTOR. VYIPo/l E. A/vpnesm/ BY cam, $42941 Arr-rs.

United States Patent 3,049,838 VALVE GRINDING MACHINES Vyron E. Anderson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assignor to Cedar Rapids Engineering Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed May 4, 1959, Ser. No. 310,622 4 Claims. (Cl. 5150) This invention relates to a valve grinding machine and more particularly one in which the grinding head traverses automatically or manually at the selection of the operator.

In valve grinding machines used by garages and service stations, it has been common practice to move the valve face or the grinding wheel back and forth in relation to each other by manual means. The edge of the grinding wheel often wears unevenly and it is necessary to bring the valve face in contact with the full width of the wheel in order to get an even, uniform ground surface on the valve. When this is done manually, it is always possible that the operator may not move the grinding wheel or valve sufficiently to achieve the desired results.

It is therefore a primary object of my invention to provide a device in which the grinding Wheel will be moved at a uniform rate of speed across the face of the valve being ground, the extent of such movement being the full width of the grinding surface of the Wheel.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a device in which such automatic traversing mechanism may be easily and readily disengaged at the option of the operator.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a device in which the adjustable grinding wheel shaft may be moved manually to achieve a rocking motion thereof.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a device in which the reciprocating mechanism may be housed in the base portion of the conventional valve grinding machine.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specifications, wherein are disclosed several exemplary embodiments of the invention, with the understanding, however that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a valve grinding machine, a portion of the base being cut away to show the reciprocating mechanism which actuates the traversing movement of the grinding wheel.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the reciprocating mechanism shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the wobble joint by which rotary movement is translated into oscillating movement.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing another embodiment of my invention in which the oscillating motion is achieved by a worm and cam mechanism.

FIGURE 5 is a View in cross section of the worm and cam mechanism shown generally in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a schematic diagram of yet another embodiment of my invention in which an air-operated cylinder provides the oscillating motion.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view in cross section showing the clutch mechanism of the device shown in FIG- URE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a side view of a bell crank assembly which may be used to drive the reciprocation members of FIGURES 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to. FIGURE 1; a valve grinding machine is shown in 3,049,838 Patented Aug. 21, 1962 perspective. The machine comprises two basic assemblies, the valve carrier mechanism 11 and the spindle assembly 11a, these two members being mounted on a common base 13. The valve carrying assembly includes a pivotally mounted base portion 14 which swings in an arc about the pivot point 15 and along a graduated scale 16 by which the valve face grinding angle is calculated. The movement of the base 14in an arc is controlled by manual rotation relative to the scale 16. Mounted on this base is a shaft assembly 17 having a chuck 18 on its outer end in which the valve 19 is held. The movement of the chuck 18 and the valve 19 in relation to the grinding Wheel 22 is controlled by the wheel 12. The shaft is powered for rotation by an electric motor 21. It will be obvious that by manipulation of the base 14 and the spindle 20, the valve can be brought into the back face of the grinding wheel 22.

The grinding wheel spindle assembly, indicated generally at 11a, is also mounted on a portion of the base 13. This portion is indicated generally at 23 and is a raised stand which brings the grinding wheel 22 into line with the valve 19. In my invention this spindle assembly includes a shaft housing 24 which is mounted for longitudinal movement on the base member, the flanges 25 and 26 being keyed to way blocks 27 and 28 to permit this movement.

The housing carries the shaft 29, on one end of which is mounted a drive pulley 30 and on the opposite end the grinding wheel 22. The drive pulley is driven by motor 31, which is mounted on base 13, through means of a belt 32 and is keyed to the shaft to permit it to maintain its position relative to the belt and motor while the shaft moves.

The spindle housing 24 carries a slotted downwardly extending block member 33 which is connected to the powered traversing mechanism indicated generally at 34. The powered traversing mechanism is driven by a motor 35 which is adapted to operate at approximately 30 revolutions per minute.

In order to translate the rotary movement of the electric motor into the reciprocating movement of the spindle, I have provided a mechanism, indicated generally at 3-6, which I will now describe and which is shown in more detail in FIGURES 2 and 3.

The motor 35 drives a Wobble gear assembly which includes a fixed bearing 37, a freely pivotally mounted disc 38, and the angular face 3 of the shaft 40, which terminates in an angular stub a, the disc 38 being mount-' ed on this angular stub. The shaft 40 is rotatably mount ed in bearing 37 and rotated by the motor 35. As this shaft rotates in the bearing 37, the angular face causes the spherically tipped extension '41 of the free disc 38 to oscillate in a small arc in the plane of block 43 parallel to the axis of the motor and the shaft 40. The disc 38 carries the spherically tipped extension 41 which in turn is engaged in a socket 4 2 of a block 43. This socket engagement keeps the disc 38 from rotating about the axis of the shaft 40, but does permit the stub shaft 40a to rotate while the disc 38 and extension 41 remains in the same radial position on the shaft. The block 43 is loosely attached to a shaft 44 which is pivotally mounted in the base 13 at right angles to the wobble drive assembly and is interconnected to the previously men-.

mounted on the shaft 44. To secure a fixed engagement with this shaft, I have provided a clutch means including a second loosely pivoted block 45. Between the blocks 43 and 45 is a third block 46 which is rigidly fixed by means of a pin 47 to the shaft 44. On the outer end of the shaft 44 is a bell crank 48 which has an outwardly extending stud 49 which is engaged in the slot of the block 33. It will be apparent that by compressing the blocks 45 and 43 together with the block 46 in between, a'frictional engagement will be caused which will transfer the reciprocating motion of the block 43 to the block 46 and thence to the shaft 44. To secure this frictional engagement, I have provided a threaded bolt assembly 50 which includes the shaft 51, a spring-loaded end piece 52 which can be drawn against the two blocks to squeeze the block 46 into engagement.

It is to be noted that the shaft 51 is attached to block 43 by means of thread engagement and therefore varying degrees of tension can be established between the three blocks.

Obviously if the handle 53 is moved manually by the operator against the friction of these blocks, the reciprocating action of the bell crank and spindle can be changed or halted completely. In this way, the action of the spindle is at all times under the full control of the machine operator.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, wherein another embodiment of my invention is shown; it will be noted that the operative power for the traversing mechanism is furnished by the same motor, indicated at 60, which drives the grinding wheel 61. In this embodiment, a belt 62 drives a pulley 63 which is mounted on a shaft 64 which has at one end a worm gear '65 and at the other an alignment block 66. It will be understood that this wormgear is mounted in a block assembly 67 which also holds the radial gear 68. This block would be positioned on the basemernber 23 in the same manner as the wobble drive shown in FIGURE 1 and at the same position. The worm gear 65 and the shaft 64 are jointed by a flexible coupling 69. The block 66 is spring-loaded, as shown at 70, and its position may be varied by turning the knob 71, the position of variance being at right angles to the shaft 64 in order to loosen the belt on the pulley 63. It will be apparent that when the pulley and belt are loosened in relation to each other, the motor 60 will cease todrive the assembly.

Turning again to the worm gear drive; this drive provides a gear reduction between the speed of the motor 60 and the speed of the transverse shaft 72. This transverse shaft, which is pinned or keyed to the radial gear 68, has a cam mechanism 73 on its outer end which seats in a pivoted yoke member 74.

This yoke provides the reciprocal motion for the grinding wheel and its associated spindle and motor. The yoke is pinned in position by a shaft 75 which would be attached to the base member of the device shown in FIGURE 1. The yoke has two spaced-apart fork members 76 and 77 with bearings 78 and 79 which are positioned in a groove 80 in the spindle housing.

It will be at once apparent that the turning of the cam member 73 will cause the pivotal reciprocation of the yoke and consequently of the grinding wheel assembly.

FIGURE is an enlarged cross sectional view of the worm gear and cam assembly of the device shown in FIG- URE 4. The shaft 72 serves as a housing for a second shaft 81 which is positioned within the shaft 72 in an off-center relationship. Centered on this shaft at the outer ,end is an adjusting collar 82 which carries a threaded stop pin 83. This threaded stop pin can be turned into an opening in a second collar 84 which is fixedly attached to the outer shaft 72. A number of openings, such as 85, are provided at different radial distances from the center shaft. On the opposite end of the shaft 81 is an elf-center collar 86 which carries, again in an offcenter relationship, an outwardly projecting cam shaft 87.

It will be apparent that by turning the collar 82 radially in relation to the collar 84 and fixing it thereto by means of a pin 33, the relative position of the outwardly extending shaft 87 will be changed in relation to the main shaft 72. In this way, the extent of the reciprocation of the yoke member 74 can be varied and controlled with a consequent control of the extent of travel of the grinding wheel 61. The shaft 37 is afiixed to the yoke 74 by means of a bearing 83.

It will also be apparent that by the movement of the collar 82, the yoke can be moved manually. -It will be apparent that should the operator wish to move the grinding wheel manually, he need only release the drive by use of the knob '71 and then turn the knob 84 to bring the grinding wheel and its spindle to any desired position.

Still another embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE 6. In the embodiment, the operative mechanism would be mounted in the base portion of the valve grinding machine shown in FIGURE 1, again in a manner similar to the wobble gear drive assembly therein shown.

However, in the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6, the reciprocating action is accomplished by the use of a double-acting air cylinder 91. The two sides of the cylinder are operatively connected to a two-way valve 92 by means of conduits 93 and 94. A primary air line 95 is also connected to this valve 92 through a pressure valve 96. The air cylinder carries a cylinder shaft 97 which extends outwardly of the cylinder and is pivotally attached at 98 to a reciprocating arm 99 which in turn is fixedly attached to a shaft 100, which in turn has a cam on the inner end thereof at 101 and an adjusting wheel 102 at the opposite end. The cam, indicated at 101 of FIGURE 6, operates a toggle 43. This toggle is shown in part in FIGURE 6, but performs the identical function and is the same as the toggle 43 of FIGURES 2 and 3.

It will be apparent, in order to make the air cylinder device operative, that it will be necessary to reverse the flow of air periodically. This flow reversing action is accomplished by the alternate reciprocation of the pistons 91a and 92a in the cylinder 91 and the valve 92. The

flow of air is from the conduit 95 into the two-way valve In FIGURE 6 the valve is shown with the piston 92a at its furthermost position to the left within the valve. At this point a port at 103 in the cylinder permits the air to pass through the valve and into the line 104, then to 105 and into the cylinder 91, which forces the piston 91a to the right. When the piston 91a has moved the full length of its travel, it exposes a port 106 in the cylinder which permits the air to pass through the conduit 94 back to the valve 92. At this point the valve cylinder or spool is forced to the right which permits air to be exhausted through the conduit 107. This movement of the valve spool to the right brings a second port, indicated generally at 108, into registry with conduit 95, but exhausting into the conduits 109 and 110 into the right side of the cylinder 91. This again moves the piston 91a to the left until the exhaust port 112 is exposed, which allows the air to How through conduit 93 and into the right side of the valve 92, which moves the spool to the left until the air is exhausted through conduit 107. The movement of the spool 92a to the left brings the port 103 into registry with line 104 and air is again introduced into the, left side of cylinder 91. It will be apparent that as long as pressure is applied, this reciprocating action will continue.

A valve 113 is provided in order to neutralize the pressure between the conduits 104 and 109 to stop the action of the piston if such is desired.

Again, to provide a mechanism which can promptly and quickly disconnect the reciprocating drive, I incorporate a clutch member, shown generally in FIGURE 7, into the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6. This clutch member comprises an inwardly extending shaft 120 which is threaded into the hub 102 at 121. On the inner end of the shaft is a tapered portion 122, and adjacent this are two ball bearings 123 and 124. These ball bearings are adjacent the mounting point of the arm 99 which is pivoted on the shaft 100, free to rotate thereabout until the pointed end of the shaft 120 is turned inwardly to a position wherein the balls 123 and 124 are forced out against the arm fi9.

It will be apparent that at this instant, the arm 99 is then fixed in relation to the shaft 100. It will be noted that by turning the hub 102, the cam 101 will also be turned, thereby permitting the spindle and grinding wheel to be manually positioned. If the clutch member 120 has been turned into an open position, the arm 99 will reciprocate freely without affecting the cam assembly.

Again it will be understood that the reciprocating as 'semblies, shown in FIGURE 6 and FIGURE 7, are adapted to be positioned in the valve grinding machine shown in FIGURE 1 in a manner similar to that of the mechanism therein shown.

Although I have shown four embodiments of my invention, it will be noted that all four embodiments accomplish the same objective. In three embodiments the traversing of the grinder wheel spindle is achieved by mechanism which converts rotary into reciprocal motion. In each embodiment, a clutch mechanism is positioned in the drive train in such a manner as it may be quickly and readily engaged and disengaged. In each embodiment, a manually adjustable means is provided to operate independently of the powered reciprocating means, and in each embodiment the manual operating means may be used by the machine operator in such a manner as to overpower the automatic drive means.

Although I have described several specific embodiments of my invention, it is apparent that modifications thereof may be made by those skilled in the art. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. 'In a traversing mechanism for a valve grinding machine, a base member, a spindle housing, a spindle rotatably mounted in said spindle housing, a grinding wheel on the outer end of said spindle, said spindle housing and said spindle being mounted for longitudinal axial movement on said base member, a motor, a drive train interposed between said motor and said spindle housing, said drive train including means for converting rotary motion of said motor to reciprocating motion, said drive means further including a rocker shaft, said shaft having a clutch means thereon, said clutch means including a block member fixedly attached to the shaft and gripping blocks positioned on each side of said first named block, and means for selectively engaging and disengaging said clutch means by moving said gripping blocks into and out of frictional engagement with said fixedly attached block member, said rocker shaft having an additional manual positioning lever thereon, said clutch means being springloaded to permit the overriding thereof by movement of said positioning lever.

2. In a valve grinding machine, a base, a motor, a grinding wheel spindle mounted on one portion of said base, driven by said motor, and adapted to reciprocate longitudinally of said base, a grinding wheel mounted on said spindle, a chuck positioned on another portion of said base adjacent said grinding wheel, a rocker shaft positioned on said base at right angles to and operatively connected to said spindle to cause reciprocation thereof, power means adapted to rock said shaft, and spring-loaded clutch means intermediate said power means and said shaft for selective engagement therebetween, and a lever on said rocker shaft to manually override said springloaded clutch means.

3. In a device as set forth in claim 2, said power means being driven by a second motor.

4. In a valve grinding machine, a base, a motor, a

spindle mounted in the base, driven by said motor, and adapted to reciprocate therein, a grinding wheel mounted on said spindle, a rocker shaft pivotally mounted on said base and operatively connected to said spindle to cause longitudinal reciprocation thereof, a lever means on said rocker shaft, said lever means including a clutch means, and power means mounted on said base operatively connected to said clutch means adapted to drive said rocker shaft through said clutch means, the clutch means being spring-loaded and adapted to permit manual movement of said rocker shaft when said clutch is engaged.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

